1st March 2019 sees the release of the 4th Skinny Lister album ‘The Story Is…” on Xtra Mile Recordings. It’s my 2nd album recording with the band and was recorded at Blue Bell Hill Studios with Barny Barnicott (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, The Enemy).

We will also be embarking on a World Tour in March, beginning in the UK and taking in Europe and the USA. The first single from the record is out now and can be listened here:

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Also for those looking to enquire about drum lessons, I am currently taking on new students, so please do get in touch. Thanks! Thom.

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Every drum lesson I teach is tailored around the individual student’s musical taste, needs, ability and personal targets. This way the student is motivated and focused throughout the lesson, and always working towards a goal. I cater for all ages, genders and abilities, from absolute beginners to advanced drummers wanting to improve their technique.

Technical Development – To strive and work towards a perfect technique, the study of a wide range of techniques for the hands and feet, sticking, posture, breathing and all aspects of drumming technique.

Drum Grooves & Fills – Study of specific grooves, feels & drum fills relating to individual genres, these include; Rock, Pop, Funk, Metal, Country, Afro-Cuban, Drum & Bass plus many more. Also study these genres to get inside the music and help to form an understanding of how to write musical drum parts, as well as understand how the music works.

Session Drummers & Live Performance – Studying a vast selection of drummers and genres. Learning key performance techniques and songs to be performed live and along to tracks.

Additional Subjects:

Drum Tuning – How to make you sound great behind a kit, as you can learn all the greatest techniques, but if your drum kit doesn’t sound good this will have less impact. Also cover drum-kit care how to look after your gear and the internal workings of your drums, and getting drums to sound great in the studio.

Music Industry – Learn the basics of how the industry works and how to get the best out of your career as a musician and own musical project.

My lessons are taught from my own written syllabus with aspects of other workbooks, exercises and patterns to improve your drumming skill and achieve great technique and a musical brain.

I have my own drum studio based in Portslade, Brighton & Hove where I teach drum lessons from, I also provide mobile drum lessons in the Sussex area where I travel to the student and teach on their own kit. I also offer interactive Skype drum lessons for students based further a field.

If you are a musician, band leader, producer, management or whatever you maybe, and have current project in need of live drums, no matter the genre I can help you out and I am not asking for any payment (although I would ask for my expenses to be covered, but thats not much to ask right? Hopefully!).

I have plenty of studio and session experience having recorded on over 30 records in my 20 year span as a professional drummer, for a wide range of musical styles, time constraints and studio situations. The reason for this offer is to purely widen my session portfolio to date and to increase my experience even further. You can check out my work here:

So if you are interested please don’t hesitate to get in touch for a chat. You can catch me on:

Mobile: 07812750205 (UK) or

Email: thommillsdrums@gmail.com

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Currently I am mid way through a mini tour of East coast America. We have just completed the Salty Dog Cruise, a festival on a cruise ship set-up by friends and fellow band Flogging Molly. It was a crazy time, sailing from Miami to the Bahamas over 3 days, and I got to see at close quarters one of my biggest drumming influences Josh Freese play with the incredible Vandals.
Now we are off on a 5 date tour of the east coast before returning home, to start recording and writing the fourth Skinny Lister album, due for pencilled release in 2019, so watch this space!
I will also be in the UK and available for lessons, gigs and other projects in the mean time so don’t hesitate to get in touch. Thom.x

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Happy new year! Here’s to a brand new year with loads of exciting projects and music in the pipe line.

Firstly with Skinny Lister we will heading out to the US in Feb/March to finish off touring the “Devil, Heart & The Fight” album campaign. This is then quickly flanked by another week long trip a month later in April to play the Flogging Molly Salty dog cruise from Miami to Bahamas, and then finally a week long run in Germany. That will mark the end of the album campaign, and can mean only 1 thing, time to start writing and recording the next one, album 4! This will take place over the summer, with a view to be releasing it through Xtra Mile Recordings in early 2019.

I also have another project in the melting pot and in it’s infancy, called ‘Loose Teeth’ which will be writing and recording music throughout the year, for potential release sometime this year, so look out for that.

There will also be a bunch of summer festivals to play, in between recording including Download Festival France, and continuing work on our new festival themed function band ‘Dirty Weekend’, as well as offering and providing drum lessons to my current students, as well as anyone else interested in taking up the drums or continuing their learning of the instrument.

So it’s going to be another busy year of music for me, so here is to a great year and being blessed to be able to do what I love for a living! Thom.x

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2017 has been a busy year, and to round it off we have released a deluxe version of “The Devil, The Heart & The Fight” which includes our Christmas single “Christmas Calls”. We have also been touring around Europe and the UK in support of the release on Xtra Mile Recordings.

You can watch the video for “Christmas Calls” here:

Currently I am on tour across the UK with Skinny Lister & Beans On Toast, on the “Double Trouble” co-headline tour, then 2018 sees us head back to the US for our last tour of the “Devil Heart Fight” album before we start work on the next album, album 4, watch this space for future updates..

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Take a browse over at C&C Drums Europe, at my very own mug on their featured artist page! I am always so humbled to be included along side so many amazing drummers, many of whom inspired me to play, and continue to do so. Dreams come true. x

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2017 Is already shaping up to be a busy year of touring with Skinny Lister. January saw us supporting The Dropkick Murphys around Europe and now next month we are off to the US to support Flogging Molly for 2 weeks across the country, see the dates below.
We are then straight into our own headline UK tour in April, followed by the festival season and then another headline tour of our own across Europe and Scandinavia. All the dates are shown below.

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As of Mid-February I will be once again offering my services for drum lessons. These take place at my home drum studio in Hove, or I can alternatively come to you, if you have a drum-kit setup at home.

My rates are £15 per half an hour or £30 per hour, and these lessons are open to students of all ages and stages of learning, from complete beginners who want to learn the basics, to advanced players wanting to fine tune their playing. I also offer Skype drum lessons for those living further afield than the UK!

Have a look at my drum lessons page for a little more detail, or feel free to contact me through here if you have any other questions. Hopefully speak to you very soon!

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Kicking off 2017 in style, with one of my biggest tours to date, supporting Dropkick Murphys across Europe in January. This tour includes a date at Brixton Academy in London, which I am super excited about as this has always been a dream to play on that stage!

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Today sees the release of the brand new Skinny Lister album ‘The Devil, The Heart & The Fight’. Written whilst on tour with Frank Turner around the USA, UK and Europe last and this year, and recorded in between tours and the festival season, it is the 3rd album from the band and my first album recording with the band on drums.

Released worldwide on Xtra Mile Recordings today, you can purchase the record through any of these links, and on all formats, CD / LP / DL.

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An experimental improvisational drum solo using ambient music as the inspiration. An idea I have had for a while now finally comes to life, many thanks to Wild Stag Studio for filming, George at Small Pond for recording and Jack for supply the wonderful ambient landscape.

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Been experimenting in my new drum studio-shed with a few favourite rudiments.
The Paradiddle-diddle is a great rudiment and here I have switched the 2nd diddle to the beginning of the rudiment, so the sticking is then led with the left hand. LLRLRR Instead of RLRRLL. Put between the hats and the snare drum its quite a tasty groove.
Also was an experiment with recording the drums through addictive drums and layering over the video, which I think works well!

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It’s that time again, going state side and this time we are out on our own with the brilliant Beans on Toast and Will Varley in tow. We’re starting in Florida and taking in Flogging Molly’s Salty dog cruise to the Bahamas, which sounds like a crazy drunken boat trip with Rancid, Frank Turner, Fishbone and many others! Also we are hitting up Toronto in Canada and some of the usual hot spots for us in Chicago, Pittsburgh & Cambridge on this 3 week tour.

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Kicking off 2016 with a massive European tour, yeah why not? This January I’m taking in the freezing cold weather and snowy European cities of Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. This is the last leg with Frank and the crew, and the wonderful Will Varley. So huge thanks for taking us around, the USA, UK and now Europe, it’s been a blast and a pleasure to be on the tours, onwards and upwards, cheers guys!

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Super privileged to announce that I am now an endorsee & part of the Sabian cymbal family! I took a trip up to their artist centre at Music Bank in London and picked out a brand new set of metals; 14″ Artisan Hi-hats, 21″ HHX Legacy Ride & 17″ Artisan Crash to go with my 19″ HHX X-Treme Crash. Huge thanks to Tom Winch at Sabian and Nigel from The Sleeping Souls for all their help.

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I have worked with Thom Mills over the past 20 years in various projects and had personal lessons from him at various stages of my life. His musical sensibility is nothing short of rhythmical genius and his mastery of his craft leaves my jaw on the floor every time.
He is committed, talented and passionate. Three things that real musicians of this age lack constantly. His sympathetic attitude for all levels of musical ability allows him to connect with any student of any skill level.
It’s been a true joy and pleasure working with him and knowing him. I’ll continue to watch his career thrive throughout the ages as I have done so for the last two decades!

Thom has been teaching my son Jake the drums for 3 years. Having had several different teachers in the past, Thom is the one we have stuck with.
Jake says "Thom puts him at ease and makes the lessons enjoyable whilst still challenging him. He is also a touring drummer so has lots of experience not only playing the drums, but also the things that come with that."
Hes a nice guy and we both thoroughly recommend him.

Thom was a great teacher for my 7 year old son getting started with drumming. He had him playing his favourite Prodigy track in his first 1 hour lesson! 6 years on he's now doing his grade 6. Thom has a relaxed and friendly style and is a great teacher

I had my first lesson with Thom the other day, and it was great fun! Thom is patient and calm and made me feel very relaxed. He took me through all the important stating points and help me start improving my technique. By the end of the lesson I could really see how much I had learnt- and he even gave me homework so I can continue to practice at home!
If you want a teacher who is enthusiastic, kind and able to engage with drummers at all levels... Thom is your guy. 10/10/

Thom is an excellent teacher! He taught my son from the age of 7 and he progressed beautifully, enjoying every lesson. He still plays now even as a teenager - Thom did a great job instilling a love of drumming! He is also a thoroughly lovely guy and I would highly recommend him to anyone.